Mathematica Study on KIPP Middle Schools

KIPP
has a longstanding commitment to performance transparency. We rigorously
examine our performance data to understand our impact —what is working and what
needs to be improved —so that we can better serve our students, and fulfill our
commitment to continuous learning and improvement.

In 2008, Mathematica Policy
Research began
a multi-year longitudinal study of KIPP middle schools. Mathematica has
released two reports to date, in 2010 and 2013, along with two installments of
a working paper. The report released in February 2013, is the latest and most
comprehensive look at KIPP schools to date

This report showed that (1) KIPP middle schools made significant gains
in reading, math, science, and social studies across all grades; (2) The
magnitude of KIPP’s achievement impacts is substantial. Mathematica found that
students showed gains equivalent to an extra 8 months of learning in reading,
11 months in math, 14 months in science, and 11 months in social studies; and
(3) Mathematica’s research included a test of higher thinking skills, which
students could not have prepared for in advance. On this exam, KIPP students
showed substantial gains in all tested subjects and across all
grades-demonstrating that KIPP’s gains could not be explained by teaching to
the test.

By
engaging in rigorous research and evaluation, we hope to promote continuous
improvement within our network and serve as leaders in demonstrating what’s
possible in public education for children from underserved
communities. The final Mathematica report on KIPP will be released in
2015.